The fourth installment of USA TODAY High School Sports’ “Best Of” contest series kicked off this week with the first-ever Best High School Football Coach contest.

Vote: Choose Your Favorite NC Coach

About the contest:

USA TODAY staffers have selected eight active head football coaches in each state after more than a month of conversations with local media and other state/school officials with high school football expertise. From there, the fans will decide which coach emerges from a list of 408.

There will be three rounds of voting. The state round begins at today and ends at noon (ET) Oct. 8. The 51 winners – each state plus Washington, D.C. – advance to a regional round, beginning Oct. 9. The eight regional winners move onto the national round, which starts Oct. 21 and ends Oct. 29. The champion is crowned based on most votes in the final round.

Contest Prizes:
The athletic department of the winning coach will receive $2,000. Second through fifth places also receive cash prizes for the athletic departments: second ($1,000), third ($500), fourth ($250) and fifth ($100).

Please check to see if your coach has made the contest and spread the word among your students, staff and community.